This disclosure relates to integrated circuit devices and, more particularly, to generating and providing a pulse-width modulated signal to specify the supply voltage from a voltage regulator that supplies the integrated circuit.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it may be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Demands for efficient power management within integrated circuit (IC) devices increase with every new generation of integrated circuit devices. In fact, many of the latest generation of integrated circuit devices include multiple power saving features that enable efficient power usage management. One of the power saving features that may be included in integrated circuit devices is selectively activating various portions of circuits. Another power saving feature that may be included is supplying various supply voltage levels to different circuits according to specified performance levels of the different circuits. Some integrated circuit devices may include a “smart” power saving feature. The smart power saving feature includes a smart controller that controls requests to power supplies to different portions of an integrated circuit device. The smart power saving features help to maintain the performance of the integrated circuit device to a high level while using a relatively low voltage level. One example of a smart power saving feature is SmartVID® from Altera Corporation.
The smart power saving features may use an interface that communicates between a voltage regulator and the integrated circuit device. Due to the complexity of the power saving features, the interface may use parallel wires between the power saving features within the integrated circuit device and the voltage regulator. Parallel communication, however, may add complexity in both its commands and its routing connections between the integrated circuit device and the voltage regulator.